Humans
Circa 730 T.E. Culture Humans are typically more diverse in opinions and customs than the other longer-lived races of Terrene. Many accuse humans of having little respect for tradition and history as their culture tends to change so rapidly. It is common for humans to be very opinionated yet open to suggestion on new ways of thinking. This leads to splintering among many human factions, and were it not for their capacity to produce great leaders and other persons they would have died out as a race long ago. Humans sometimes boast that they do more with their short lifespans than elves do with theirs. Of course, this saying has lost much of its meaning since nearly the entire Elven race is enslaved in today’s world. Physical Description Humans typically stand from 5 feet to slightly over 6 feet tall. Their weight falls somewhere between 125 and 250 pounds, with men typically larger and taller than the women. That has, however, changed slightly due to recent cultural shifts where broader, more muscular and larger women have become hyper-sexualized among human men. Many males, in recent years, have taken to being slimmer and frailer. This is due to the rise of wizardry among human males. In return Human females have taken up the swords of warriors to compete against the more brutish, and thus sexier (in the eyes of a human male) Orcish women. This has given rise to more and more humans being born with Orcish blood, as Orcs and Grey Orcs (Half-Orcs, as Humans call them) have become quite popular with the Human males. This has ultimately decreased the average human lifespan from typically living up to a century to now barely managing 85 or so years. Humans are considered adults around the age of 15 or so. Relations Humans in the past have worked their way into the hearts of just about every race as their adventurous and short-living spirits wandered about the world of Terrene. However as Humans began to dominate the general political structure of the Second Era races like the Gnomes and Dwarves began to resent these nosy tall beings. In modern times Humans and Orcs have become nearly inseparable as species. Orcs and Humans of recent years typically get along as if they were the same race. That is not to say there are not still Orcs who loathe their culture being meshed with the Humans, or Humans who believe likewise. But, perhaps ironically, even these members of their societies have an incredible knack for working together and general brotherhood. Elves typically find themselves neutral on the matter of humans. As the Elven race has become mostly enslaved in the modern world, Humans are rarely if ever seen using Elven slaves. This is not because of some moral obligation or other calling. Humans simply find the slender, elegant Elven women to be too ugly, and not nearly buff or broad enough to be used as sexual slaves. Likewise, the males are too slim and scrawny to typically be good for anything more than being a teacher of spells. However as time goes on, the Elven race forgets more and more of the ancient spells of its glory days and thus becomes more useless to Humans who would be interested in learning them. Halflings are typically neutral towards Humans, though they don’t really like how tall they are. Alignment Humans in the past have held a banner for being denizens of Justice and all that is good. They raised their banners for the weak and downtrodden, and the old tales of Human Heroes are plenty. However, in the Modern era such crusaders of Justice are all but dead and gone. These ancient warriors have been pushed out of the spotlight and the arcane wizards have replaced the divine paladins of old. Humans are taking a turn towards militarism, and power. In a world where peace was achieved by the paladin’s blade it would seem that very same race would take up a staff to plunge the world back into the darkness of the Second Era. Or at least that is what Dwarven and Gnomish commentators have speculated. And it is true that Empires such as Gundain have found petty reasons to attack Gnomish and Dwarven settlements near their home. However, shadows of the old orders of paladins still lurk in the darkness of Human cities. They yearn for order and control over the chaos and mischief that they see as plaguing their land. Typical Member of the Six Of the six divine beings of the creation story, Humans most readily worship Mother Vivé. Originally worshiped in old Human kingdoms for the light of the stars she carried, she is now mostly worshiped for her ties to the arcane and magic. Human Wizards, should they be pious enough to take up worship, will typically ask for blessings of power from Mother Vivé. The Wanderer, who is believed to be typically worshiped by Orcs, has been looked at in recent years by Humans in a sort of morbid curiosity. Necromancers and such have come to find their practice is not exactly unwanted in Human regions such as Gundain. Guards have taken to turning a blind eye to worship of the Wanderer, which used to be strictly outlawed by order of the Paladinhood in older times. Notable Regions of Dominance Mass Human Populations (80-100%): Gundain, Solus High Human Populations (60-79%): Island of the Council, Balderdash Language Humans speak Common. Nowadays they also sprinkle their language with Orcish phrases and sayings. Many, many Orcish curse words have found their way into Human language as of late. Human military has also found a fondness for Dwarven military phrases due to their diversity and simplistic structure. Humans have taken a profound interest in Draconic as of late, the language most often spoken by dragons and used in the writings of ancient tomes and such. Names Human names are typically sprinkled with just a bit of everything. In recent years Humans have taken quite a liking to Orcish naming schemes with lots of consonants and few syllables. Apostrophes in names still haven’t quite taken off though. Common male names: Felix, Jake, Scott, Gom, Kog, Samuel Common female names: Lydia, Olga, Jill, Funth, Kayla, Isabelle Livelihoods Humans are gifted with drive and ingenuity, as such they can make their living doing just about anything. They can easily fit into any class without taking experience penalties when dual-classing.